Railroad lantern



Se t. 1511925v v M. A. KELLY RAILROAD LANTERN Filed Oct. 15, 4 2Sheets-Shed l I 1,553,538 M. A. KELLY V RAIVPHOAD LANTERN Sept. 15

, Filed Oct. 15, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES MICHAEL ALOYSIUS KELLY, OF CEDAR- GROVE, LOUISIANA,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO TALBOT MADDING, OF SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA.

RAILROAD LANTERN.

Application filedOctober 13, 1924. Serial No. 743,335.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lrIrcrri-xni. A. KELLY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Cedar Grove, in the parish of Caddo. and State ofLouisiana, have invented a new and useful Railroad Lantern, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to lanterns and more particularly to signal oillanterns designed for use by railroads.

The object of the invention is to provide an oil burning lantern whichis small and light and which is so ccnstructed as to prevent its rockingover and in which all danger of the light going out during the use ofthe lantern as a signal is prevented.

Another object is to so construct a lantern of this character that nosprings are employed and which is also equipped with a protector forpreventing burning. of the users arms when the lantern is being carriedor during its use for various purposes.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement'of parts and in the details of constructionhereinafterdescribed and claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of theinvention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of What isclaimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings.:-

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a latern constructed inaccordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is atop plan View thereof on a small scale; and

Fig. 3 is a central vertical on the line 83 of Fig. 1.

Among railroad men it is a well known fact that the lanterns now in useare unhandy, heavy and cumbersome as well as top heavy and thereforeeasily rocked over. To avoid these objections the lantern constitutingthis invention comprises a protective section taken outer casing 1having a solid bottom onwhich the oil fount 10 is designed to rest andwhich is so held as to avoid the use of springs and thus eliminates alldanger of throwing out the oil fountain during the giving of signals.This outer casing 1 has an annular support engaging flange 2 which ismade convexo=concave in cross section and it being understood that.

attached at its inner edge to said casing at a point spacedv above thebottom thereof so that its surface-engaging edge 3 will be flush with orsubstantially flush with the bottom of said casing. This edge 3 isrolled inward to form a reinforcement at this point.

This casing 1 is equipped above the flange 2 with a plurality of airinlet apertures 4 and above said apertures is an annularoutstruct bead 5designed to reinforce the casing at this point... The upper edge of thecasing 1 supports an annular internally disposed sleeve or collar 6 thelower or skirt portion of which is offset inwardly and spaced from thecasing 1. L i-shoulder 8 is formed at the junction of said sairt portionwith the body of the collar and forms a seattor the lantern chimney '15.The upper edge of the collar 6 is rolled outwardly to form a hook-shapedengaging'lip 9 designed to fit over the upper edge of the casing l as isshown clearly in Fig. 3 whereby the collar or gallery 6: is supported.-I V I A cup-shaped fount supporting member 11 is disposed in the casing1 and soldered or otherwise fixed to the bottom thereof, the bottom ofsaid container 11 being provided with a plurality of radialcorrugations12.

The chimney supporting collar or gallery 6 is provided with an annularseries of air admission apertures 6* such as are ordinarily found indevices of this character and which provide for the passage of the airadmitted through the apertures'a passing up into the chimney to supplyoxygen to the flame- The gallery or collar 6 is also provided with aslot 13 which registers with a similar slot in the upper edge 01' thecasing 1 and these registering slots are designed to receive the wickactuating rods 14;.

Secured to the upper edge of thecasing 1 is a skeleton cage 20 which isoutwardly bulged to form a protector for the chimney 15 and ispreferably composed of heavy vertically extending wires 21 soldered orotherwise secured to the casing 1 above the head 5, the wires beingarranged in peripherally spaced relation as is shown clearly in Fig. 1

and which are connected intermediate their.

ends by an annular wire 22 while their-upper ends are bent, aroundan'annular top wire 23 to which is hinged the lantern top 30. The hingedconnection of the top 30 is shown at 31 and at a point diametricallyPATENT OFFICE.

opposite is a spring catch 32 which snaps down over the upper annularwire 23 and holds the top securely closed.

Mounted on the top 30, which is equipped with the'usual gas outletapertures 33, is an arm protecting guard 35 designed to prevent contactof the operators arm withthe hot top. This guard 35 is shown in the formof an annular wire 36 spaced periphorally from the upper portion of thetop and extending in a plane above it and which is secured to the top bydiverging arms 37 any desired number of which may be employed, fourbeing here shown which securely support the ring and hold it rigid. Thisguard prevents the top of the lantern from contacting with the bare armof the operator which frequently occurs with lanterns of the old typeand which often results in the operator letting loose of the lantern orthe objects on which he is working. Ordinarily operators which use theselanterns wear gauntlet gloves for the purpose of protecting their armsfrom being burned while with this device the gloves may be omitted.

This top 30 which extends well over the upper end of the cage 20 haslocated therein an annular skirt 34 designed to fit snugly over theupper edge of the glass chimney 15 as is shown clearly in Fig. 3. Thisskirt 34: is equipped with the usual ventilating openings orperforations 34?.

A fixed bail-shaped handle 38 is secured at its ends to two of thediametrically oposite cage wires 21 near their lower ends as is shownclearly in Fig. 1, the ends or terminals of this handle being preferablyconstructed of heavy wire arms 39 which have eyes engaging the wires 21and are soldered thereto. These arms 39 diverge toward their upper endsand are connected by ferrules 40 with an insulating U-shaped member 41preferably constructed of wood although not necessarily so. Theseferrules 4L0 taper toward their lower ends where they are connected withthe arms 39 and at their points of connection are fixedly en gaged bylaterally extending arms 42 arranged at diametrically opposite points onthe upper portion of the cage and which are here shown in the form ofloop-shaped wires which, formation strengthens and adapts them torigidly hold the handle 38 in operative position. This bail-shapedhandle 38 extends well up over the lantern and down toward the bottomthereof being spaced therefrom sufficiently to prevent all possibilityof contact with the lantern by the hands or arms of theoperator, andwhich adapt-s the lantern to be swung bodily in giving signals.

The oil fount 10 is made of a size sufficient to hold oil enough to lastsixteen hours ing surplus oil. This oil fount 10 fits snugly in the cup11 and in the gallery 7, with the wick actuating rod 145 extendinglaterally or radially from the burner thereof through the slots 13 and13" in the gallery and easing 1 with the hand grip of said rodprojecting beyond the casing. This not only provides for an outside wickadjuster avoiding the necessity of raising the chimney or globe 15 toadjust the light but operates also to assist in holding the partssecurely in position which is accomplished by means of the chimney orglobe resting on the rod whereby all possibility of the fount movingvertically is prevented, while the slots in which this rod is mountedholds the fount against lateral movement.

As will be observed this lantern is made short and dumpy which preventsits rocking over when used on a moving train. The top draft is lowered,giving direct draft for gasses to pass out to the atmosphere avoidingsmothering of the light in muggy weather such as frequently occurs withlanterns of the old type. Owing to the construction of this lantern itmay be used as signal and which by having a solid casing or bottom forthe oil fount to rest in eliminates the use of springs as well as thedanger of throwing the oil fount away during the movement of the lanternfor signals.

I claim i 1. A lantern of the class described comprising a flat low basehaving a low broad cage carried thereby, an oil fount mounted in saidbase, a globe mounted in said cage, a hinged top carried by said cagefor securing the globe in place, a handle secured to said cage, and anarm protector carried by said top and made in the form of a ring spacedfrom the top in all directions with arms fixedly securing it to the top.

2. A. lantern of the class described comprising a flat low base having alow broad cage carried thereby, an oil fount mounted in said base, aglobe mounted in said cage, a hinged top carried by said cage forsecuring the globe in place, a bail-shaped handle having the lowerportions of its arms converging and secured at their terminals to saidcage near the bottom of the lantern, the body portion of the handleextending up over the lantern, arms extending laterally from thefcageand fixedly secured to the handle arms whereby a rigid handle isprovided fixed to the lantern frame, and an arm protector carried bysaid top and made in the form of a ring spaced from the top in alldirections with arms fixedly securing it to the top.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature.

MICHAEL ALOYSIUS KELLY.-

